Two students left fighting for life after taking enough caffeine for 300 coffees in botched experiment

A potentially fatal error in a university experiment left two students fighting for their lives after mistakenly ingesting enough caffeine for 300 cups of coffee.

Sports science students Alex Rossetto and Luke Parkin were each given a hundred times more caffeine than intended due to a calculation error at Northumbria University, which has been fined £400,000 over the mistake.

The pair had volunteered to take part in the test which aimed to measure the effect of caffeine on exercise.

After being given the wrong dosage, the second-year students suffered violent side-effects and were rushed to hospital with “life-threatening reactions” in March 2015.

Prosecutor Adam Farrer told Newcastle Crown Court that the pair should have been given 0.3g of caffeine, but were in fact given 30g. There is 0.1g in the average cup of coffee.

Caffeine: The students were given the equivalent of 300 cups of coffee (Rex)